St John Fisher (1469-1535) bishop of Rochester, cardinal and martyr
A scholar, churchman and advisor to royalty
Born
in Beverley, Yorkshire in 1469, the son of a wool-merchant, he went to
university at Cambridge where he graduated and was ordained priest in
1491.
He became chaplain to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry
VII, who helped him re-endow and reform Cambridge. He was a scholar and
man of simple, austere life and prayer; his only pleasure was
collecting books.
Aware of the need for education
Realising the
need for better education, especially of the clergy, John Fisher brought
the famous Erasmus of Rotterdam to Cambridge as professor of Divinity
and Greek. In 1504 Fisher was appointed both as chancellor of the
University and as bishop of Rochester.
His reputation as a preacher
earned him the honour of being the chosen preacher at the funerals of
Lady Margaret Beaufort and her son King Henry VII. At 47, he began the
serious study of Greek and Hebrew.
Bishop of Rochester
Rochester was a poor English
diocese and for the next thirty-one years John devoted the same care to
it as he had devoted to the promotion of education in the university. He
was opposed to Lutheran ideas and wrote vigorously against them.
He may
have had a part in the writing of Henry VIII’s Defence of the seven sacraments against
Martin Luther, for which the Pope gave him the title, “defender of the
faith”, still used by kings and queens of England.
Against Henry's repudiation of his wife Catherine of Arragon
However,
when Henry VIII sought to repudiate his wife, Catherine of Aragon,
Fisher argued vigorously against it and against the king’s subsequent
attempts to make himself head of the Church of England.
Imprisoned in the Tower
On 16 April, 1534 Henry
had Fisher imprisoned in the Tower of London together with Sir Thomas
More. Both had refused to take the Oath of Succession acknowledging the
children of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn as legitimate heirs to the
throne. While in prison awaiting trial, he was made a cardinal.
Trial and execution
Fisher's trial took place in
Westminster Hall on June 17th 1535. He was found guilty of treason
because he would not acknowledge the King as Supreme Head of the Church
in England.
Five days later when called to his execution, he put on his
best clothes and, though weak, walked to the scaffold where he told the
crowd: "Christian people, I am come here to die for the faith of
Christ's Holy Catholic Church."
His head was impaled on London Bridge
until fourteen days later it was removed to make way for that of Thomas
More.
Canonisation
In 1935 he was canonised in St
Peter's Basilica in Rome. His Feast Day is on June 22nd together with
that of his companion martyr, St Thomas More.